Fourth Sunday in Lent

Richard Davenport March 19, 2023 - Fourth Sunday in Lent John 9:1-41 This passage from John is one of the stories I find especially interesting. There's just a lot going on here, a lot worth digging into. It is one of the longer scenes we have in the Gospels and you really do need to read all of it to get the full sense of what's happening. The story has three main sections. The first is Jesus' encounter with the blind man. The disciples point out a man sitting by the wayside. Somehow they know he has been born all his life. Perhaps he's a bit of a fixture in town. He probably has a standard spot where he goes to beg. The disciples then begin to wonder. Blindness and other physical ailments are all result of sin in the world. They miss an important point, however. Sin isn't just something you do. It's also a part of who you are. It shouldn't be. It was never intended to be there. Still, from the moment you are conceived, sin is a part of your life. You are corrupted by sin and everything that sin entails can and will afflict you. If that weren't the case, miscarriages and birth defects would never occur. Every baby conceived would be born, perfect and whole. But it doesn't happen. So, this man was born blind. The exact medical reason isn't really important. As someone who has been born blind, he has never seen light or color. He never seen the face of his mom or dad. On top of that, he's pretty well helpless. Some of the modern accessibility standards of our day allow blind people a certain amount of autonomy. The proper use of a cane can at least let you navigate in town without running into things. Braille allows you to read books, signs, and similar things so you can learn and get information without being completely dependent on someone else. Seeing eye dogs can eliminate a lot of the inconvenience caused by blindness and allow you to live more or less independently. But none of that exists back in the days of Christ. If you are blind and want to survive, you need someone's help. You need help to care for yourself, clothes, food, etc. If you are going to provide any kind of income, you're probably begging. Even there, you probably need help getting to a good place to beg. The disciples ask a question to better understand. Clearly this man is afflicted by the effects of sin, but whose? Jesus throws them a bit of a curve ball. The disciples were expecting Jesus to rattle off a couple of big, heinous sins that deserved this kind of wrath from God. But Jesus doesn't go for it. Yes, the man is a sinner. Yes, his parents are sinners too. That doesn't mean there was some specific sin for which he is being punished. No, something bigger is at work here. Unfortunately, the Pharisees aren't sold either. That he can see isn't something they can dispute. So instead they question if he was ever really blind. Maybe it was a different guy altogether. There's got to be some kind of explanation, a logical explanation that sorts this all out. Someone got confused or someone's trying to pull a fast one on all of them. It really can't be that this Jesus guy restored sight to a man who had been blind from birth. The formerly blind man has a pretty good idea of the gift he's been given. We don't have any reason to think he's had formal religious training, but he still understands the ramifications better than the Pharisees do, or, more likely, he sees what they are refusing to see and acknowledge. God has done many miracles throughout history. Manna in the wilderness. Water from a rock. A sea whose waters part so people can walk through on dry ground. Plagues that destroy crops and make a whole nation miserable and yet never afflict certain households. A day that rolls back three hours to give more sunlight. Even dead that are raised to life again. Yet, for all of that, there is no Biblical record of any blind person receiving their sight. Not until now. It had been prophesied. God announced it would happen, but that prophecy was tied to the work of the messiah, the savior. Obviously, no miracle done by Jesus is a minor thing, especially not to the person receiving it. But, restoring sight to a blind man seems like a pretty straightforward miracle for Jesus, and it is. It doesn't take much effort for Jesus to do any of these things. However, this miracle comes with that added significance. Jesus is proving something to anyone who is paying attention. This blind man with no formal religious education figured it out. The Pharisees know it too, but they are choosing to not acknowledge it. They are running their own investigation, determined to find the real report of what's been going on. The blind man even gets a little pointed with his questions. He knows the Pharisees are deliberately trying to avoid the obvious conclusion. The Pharisees throw him out, but at that point I'm not sure he really minds. He already knows he's just received a gift he never thought possible, something that could only have come from God. It's after all of this that Jesus confirms what the man was already thinking. Jesus reveals himself to the man and now that man could connect the gift to the giver. The man responds in the only way he knows how, the only way he can. He tells Jesus he trusts him. The one who would give him such a wonderful, undeserved gift must be worthy of his thanks and praise. It's quite the story, and the underlying message reflects what God spoke through the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament reading. Blindness isn't just a physical malady. It also describes a spiritual condition. One of the themes woven through the book of Isaiah is the idea that you become like what you worship. If you worship the living God, then you take on his righteousness, his life. Even that which is blind will see and that which is dead will live. When a blind man, someone who blind either physically or spiritually, the natural result is the restoration of sight. God gives sight to the blind. Their eyes will work as they were intended to. They will see God and trust him as they ought. God will restore them inside and out. Those who worship, well, anything else, will become like it. Any other god, any other thing you might worship has no life in it. It cannot give life. It cannot extend life. It can't do anything at all. Whether you're talking about a statue or an idea you found in a book, a feeling you have or anything you might consider worthy of worship, it's all blind and dead. Worshipping that will make you blind and dead too. The Pharisees ask Jesus if they are blind too. Understanding what Jesus means when he talks about blindness, we now understand what he says. If the Pharisees admitted they didn't understand, they didn't know and see what God wanted for them, then Jesus could step and restore their sight. He could reveal himself to them and they could know him, trust him, and find life in him. But they refuse to acknowledge their deficiency. They argue that they see perfectly fine. In fact, they don't need anything at all. Since they don't think they need healing, restoration, they don't need what Jesus offers. They claim to see, but they actually blind, blind and dead like their own false pride. Now, presumably you're here on Sunday morning because you trust what God says about things like forgiveness and salvation. That doesn't stop all of the ideologies, spiritualisms, the plans for prosperity or happiness from all sounding really good. Many sound like they would build you up, would be helpful. The Pharisees had a good plan too: follow the Law. Just do what it says and you'll be fine. Not only will you be fine, you'll be better than everyone else who doesn't. They aren't the only ones to fall victim to that kind of thinking. What is it that dictates your actions throughout the day? What do you look to to determine the course of your life? What do you look to for guidance? Does God's word come out on top? Does the one who gives life and salvation have the final word on what is good for you and what will ultimately bring you peace and joy, or has something else promised you the way to make sense of the world and everything in it? It's strange to think of blindness as a way to glorify God. How can my disability be of any benefit to God? St. Paul looks over how God acts throughout history and tells us, "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." God uses blindness to bring sight. God uses weakness to bring strength. God uses death to bring life. Where the world points out our deficiencies, our lack, and shows how we may acquire what we need for ourselves, God simply tells us to rely on him. Through his grace, those who are blind can see better than those who are not. Those who are weak find themselves stronger than their mighty oppressors. Those who are dead find they live forever in him. This blind man, whose childhood was undoubtedly difficult, was given a gift that entirely changed his life. He was made to see, both physically and spiritually. It turned out that this poor blind man was more acceptable to God than the Pharisees and all their righteousness. God used this blind man to teach the world a very important lesson. Every other system, plan, or religion in the world offers to show you how to make sense of it all, to show you the answers to all of life's important questions. But they all leave you with nothing. You think you see it all, but in the end you're still blind and dead. Instead, God puts it all together for you. He doesn't ask you to seek it all out for yourself. He simply gives you what you need instead. He knows we like playing like we can see it all, even when we can't. On your own, all you will ever find is death. Look to God and you will find life. Admit your faults and failings, admit your sins and struggles to him. Let him cleanse you. Let him heal and restore you. Let him reveal salvation to you and show you what you could never see without him.